CAMBRIDGE, Mass.—The fourth-ranked
Harvard heavyweight crew swept four races from No. 7 Princeton,
including a varsity eight win against the Tigers and MIT to claim
the Compton Cup, Saturday morning on the Charles River.

Racing in choppy water on a cold, wet morning, the Crimson came
from behind to take the first three races of the day before winning
the varsity eight to claim the Compton Cup for the 59th time in the
74 cup competitions since 1933. It was Harvard's fourth straight
Compton victory and its eighth in the last nine years.

Harvard (3-1) and Princeton (3-2) were in a close race for the
lead through the first half of the cup race. The Crimson led by
about one seat at the 1,000-meter mark but surged several more
seats ahead while passing under Massachusetts Avenue. Shortly
thereafter, the Tigers' steering cable broke and their boat crashed
into Harvard's lane, breaking the bow off the Princeton shell and
preventing the Tigers from continuing. Harvard went on to finish in
5:53.01, beating MIT (1-5) by 26 seconds.

In a ceremony at Newell Boathouse following the race,
named the rowing shell used by the varsity eight in honor of
Malcolm Howard '05, a three-time national champion with the Crimson
and a 2008 Olympic gold medalist with Canada.

The three preceding races were all variations on the same theme.
Each time, Princeton pulled ahead early, only to see Harvard rally
for the victory. The second varsity trailed by three seats in the
second 500 meters before passing the Tigers around the 1,000 mark
and finishing in 5:53.59. Princeton crossed the line in 5:55.13.

The Crimson freshmen trailed by six seats at the midway point
but took over in the third 500. They built a seven-seat lead of
their own with 500 meters to go and won by a boat length in
5:49.31. The most exciting comeback may have belonged to the third
varsity, which trailed by six seats before passing Princeton inside
the final 500 meters and winning by more than four seconds in
5:54.42.